Thermal degradation kinetics and estimation of lifetime of radiation grafted polypropylene films

In this research work, thermal stability and degradation behavior of acrylic acid grafted polypropylene (PP-g-PAAc) films were investigated by using thermogravimetric (TGA) analysis at four different heating rates 5, 10, 15 and 20 degrees C/min over a temperature range of 40-550 degrees C in nitrogen atmosphere. The kinetic parameters namely activation energy (En), reaction order (n) and frequency factor (Z) were calculated by three multiple heating rate methods. The thermal stability of PP-g-PAAc films is found to decrease with increase in degree of grafting. The TGA data and thermal kinetic parameters were also used to predict the lifetime of grafted PP films. The estimated lifetime of neat PP as well as grafted PP decreased with increase in temperature by all the three methods. Studies also indicated that Ea and lifetime of PP-g-PAAc films decreased with increase in degree of grafting, which may also be helpful in biodegradation of grafted PP films.